The Seven Network’s 7NEWS has been recognised with four awards for excellence in journalism at the prestigious 14th annual Kennedy Awards in Sydney on Friday night.
7NEWS Chief Reporter Chris Reason received the award for Outstanding Investigative Reporting for Bishop of Broome, a relentless four-year investigation and series of reports which culminated in the arrest of former Bishop Christopher Saunders.
The highest-ranked Catholic in Australia currently facing child sex offences, Saunders’ arrest came months after 7NEWS first revealed the details of a top-secret Vatican report ordered by Pope Francis, believed to be one of only 20 such Vatican investigations worldwide.
Reason and the 7NEWS digital team also received the Outstanding Documentary award for The Devil’s Playground, an explosive hour-long deep dive into the Bishop of Broome allegations that rocked the Catholic Church.
Reason said: “I would like to pay tribute to our invaluable sources: the church insider who leaked the Vatican report; the whistleblower priest who lost his job and had to move interstate; and the Bishop’s secretary who left her job and is still dealing with the mental health impact. Without their bravery, our reports would not have been possible.
“I’d also like to thank senior cameraman Simon Hydzik for the countless hours he worked on this assignment, and the 7NEWS digital team for their extraordinary efforts in taking the raw material we’d gathered in the four-year investigation and turning it into a powerful documentary.
“Beyond that, I’m grateful to the 7NEWS leadership team for backing this story every step of the way. It’s an important reminder that behind the difficult headlines of recent months there is seriously outstanding journalism being delivered day after day by our incredible team. I am so proud of the work we do.”
7NEWS Spotlight’s Sarah Greenhalgh, Phil Goyen and Ben Fogarty accepted the Outstanding Crime Reporting award for their special investigation, Sextortion: Teens, Tech and Tragedy.
The global, six-month investigation exposed the actions of Nigerian sextortion scammers and the devastating impact on Australian teens and families. It led to Instagram and Facebook’s parent company Meta removing more than 60,000 sextortion scam accounts along with thousands of Facebook groups.
The West Australian’s Sports Editor Jakeb Waddell earned the Outstanding Three Headlines award for AH, KANE HAS DONE IT AGAIN, NO CHANCE IN VFL and TAKES ONE TO NO.1.
Seven’s Director of News and Current Affairs and Seven West Media Editor-in-Chief, Anthony De Ceglie, said: “The whole 7NEWS team is extremely proud of all our winners and our finalists.
“They’re a true testament to the tenacity and fearless reporting we pride ourselves on and strive to produce every single day across all our different programs and media.”
More than 1000 entries were received across 38 categories for this year’s awards, named after veteran police reporter Les Kennedy, who died in 2011 at the age of 53.
The 7NEWS team is nominated for three TV WEEK Logie Awards, including Best News or Public Affairs Report for Chris Reason’s Bishop of Broome investigation and separately for the team’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas War. Michael Usher is also nominated for Best News Presenter. Public voting for the Logie Awards closes at 7.00pm tonight and the winners will be announced tomorrow night.
For the very latest news and updates, be watching 7NEWS and follow 7NEWS.com.au.
Don’t miss 7NEWS, nightly at 6.00pm
Get Involved:
Facebook
Instagram
TikTok
7NEWS.com.au
Download the 7NEWS App
#7NEWS
Discussion about this post